Glass furnaces which use oxygen burners are known. These oxygen combustion burners offer advantages such as fuel economy, increased capacity for production, better thermal control, and more efficient means of heat transfer over other means for heating glass furnaces.
However, there are disadvantages to the use of oxygen combustion burners. For example, the radiant energy from such burners may cause damage to refractory surfaces inside the walls of the furnaces if the heat emitted by the burners is too great. Also, the refractory walls of the furnace may be damaged from impingement by the flame of the burner.